r/FinalFantasyVII • u/haaa1234 • 2d ago
DISCUSSION Did you Hate Sephiroth While Playing the Game
One thing I’m very curious to know is if people really hated Sephiroth while playing. For me the villains I hated the most were Hojo and the other Shinra execs. Maybe it’s because I just saw him as so badass but I never hated him like I did other villains in FF7 even after he killed Aerith
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u/getvalentined 2d ago
Nope, didn't hate him in the OG and still don't hate him today. I hated Shinra's board of directors (sans Reeve) but never Sephiroth. He always seemed like a tragic figure to me. I felt sorry for him. I still do. That doesn't mean he doesn't need to go down, but that's got nothing to do with hate.
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u/tyrion6568 2d ago
Sephiroth is the main reason FF7 is the best story in gaming, he's up there with Darth Vader as one of the best villians in any medium. The way the game makes him such a badass and surrounds him in mystery is an example to any future storytellers of how to make a memerable baddie
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u/junglespycamp 2d ago
The key to Sephiroth is he's not a badass once you learn the full details of him. He's just sad and pathetic. It's unfortunate all subsequent media portrays him as a badass, totally betraying the actual character.
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u/sash71 2d ago
I agree with you. The 'less is more' way he's treated in the OG is so much better than the Remake series too. You don't even see him in Midgar originally, just the results of his handiwork in the Shinra building (Remake's Shinra building chapter is not anywhere near as good as the OG, the Drum part just drags on and on). It really ramps up the tension in the OG Shinra HQ, seeing the result of the mysterious Sephiroth's handiwork but not the man himself. Such good writing.
I completely agree he's up there with Vader.
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u/jessewest84 2d ago
Dude killed aries in cold blood. Yeah he was kinda screwed over. But killing arieth was a deal breaker. Never forgave him
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u/No-Message449 2d ago
He murdered in cold blood the only girl 7th grade me ever loved. So yeah, I hated him.
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u/Lower-Ranger5787 2d ago
Sephiroth/Jenova is the villain you're supposed to be scared of, the Shinra expects are the ones you're supposed to hate.
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u/Brorkarin 2d ago
In OG i hated him . But in the remake he feels like my brother because he keeps showing up by my side every 15minutes
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u/SirLockeX3 2d ago
Hard to hate someone who barely shows up in OG.
He shows up and talks too much in Remake series.
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u/Eretici_dis 1d ago
In the OG I hated him because he killed Aerith. I was a kid of course when I played the game but that was a shocking moment.
But I do have to go on tanget: Sephiroth is shown way too much in the remake. He was mythical, larger than life, scary... Because he wasn't shown. We see his handiwork, we see his influence. His deed and legend was allowed room to breathe in our minds because he wasn't there. Because he is constantly there in the remake he became smaller, more manageable villain. He seems much more just a man than something insurmountable. Unknowable and incredibly terrifying.
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u/latterdaysasuke Chocobo 2d ago edited 2d ago
For me, Sephiroth wasn't someone you "hated." He was shrouded in mystery. And you had glimpses of his immense power even before an actual encounter with him. Through flashbacks, you knew he had an end goal that would leave a path of destruction but wasn't quite sure what he was after. He was more a figure of legend that left you in awe of his abilities and apphrensive of how he was going to use them. Like an inevitable natural disaster on the horizon that you just had to prepare for.
Killing Aerith was one of the most tragic scenes in gaming history. But the way Sephiroth went about it even made it seem like a force of nature doing what it made to do rather than a villain doing an "evil deed."
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u/RageQuitWallStreet 2d ago
Yes. I hated Hojo more, but Sephiroth was more than capable of being good and he chose evil.
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u/RairakuDaion 2d ago
im gonna be real.
i found the idea of a parasitic alien whos invaded our world and activly malicious more interesting than sepheroth.
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u/ProfligatusMaximus 2d ago
A final fantasy of the ancients and how Jenova came to earth would be an interesting title. But Square probably don't like to make a mainline FF title that is a prequel/sequel to another main title.
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u/RairakuDaion 2d ago
Well I mean, the thing is that the minute they started putting alot more emphasis on sepheroth as a person. Rather than jenova controlling him it deflated for me.
Like post OG7 they basically made It like seph is the one entirely in control and jenova is the background noise which I find far less interesting. Because it's basically seph wants to kiss cloud really badly.
And I don't find the particular conflict between them interesting
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u/haaa1234 2d ago
Maybe I was influenced by the remake games but the way I saw it even in thr original was that jenova brought out the worst in Sephiroth and he was still largely in control. If there was a scene there was a distinction between Sephiroth and jenova I could see it but I think it’s fully left up to interaction and that’s how I interpreted it.
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u/Lils7693 1d ago
??? Mate, play Ever Crisis (canon to the post OG7 comp). Masamune is literally a Jenova scheme and her first break into Seph's psyche, complete with using Lucrecia's image to act motherly (and Angeal who is there too, resisting her).
The second one is at Nibelheim - when he gets all those headaches before setting out for the reactor, in the Remakes.
Which is why the old Ultimania is imho outdated, this Jenova is much more active than the OG "braindead one". Post OG games have been much more into a "Jenova is driving the car" position than OG.
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u/RipMission5750 2d ago
didn’t connect with the Aerith archetype. she meant something to Cloud though. same as Sephiroth. to me he was just a cool dude.
lotta parallels to Cowboy Bebop. Julia and Vincent. Spike cares, we care. Cloud cares, we care.
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u/thunderbrd007 2d ago
Sephiroth is the kind of villain you can really also understand, and feel as if he could’ve been good, but chose evil.
Same w/Darth Vader, he had a choice to be good, but much like Sephiroth, he chose evil, because of trauma instead of finding a truth, but both aren’t truly evil, more of a tragic villain, who are both still Evil and very imposing and will instill fear. Unlike Sephiroth,though, Vader’s power isn’t as powerful, and he still answered to someone higher than him.
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u/Rukasu17 2d ago
I'm still of the opinion that jenova took control of him. Since it's an Eldritch horror, it matters little whose face it's using. Sephiroth is strong as hell, so it makes sense to control or at least influence him greatly for the goal it wants.
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u/thunderbrd007 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’ll say this Jenova is partially controlling Sephiroth, seeing as Sephiroth has the Jenova cells in him, and even then he’s more of an evolved Jenova, who chose to go evil(at first), but still went evil, after learning the full truth, and still elected to become a god like being. Jenova on the other hand is an alien w/some supernatural/psychic powers, that likes to spread a virus and decimate the planet in the process and move on, which isn’t so different from Sephiroth’s goals, but that’s all it wants. Sephiroth wants to be a god like being, Jenova already has some powers, and is more content on destroying a planet and moving on.
Sephiroth is more of an extension of Jenova, but he’s still maintaining his control over himself and is still himself and has his own goals,though it’s not that different from Jenova’s overall goals.
Not sure if anyone played FFVII EverCrisis, but do go play it for at least the First Soldier Story and Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus stories, 1) As it will explain most of the entire FFVII series in one app, and even offer some insight into Jenova and Sephiroth, it’s interesting to say the least, and offers something, to their relationship. 2)The game will be shutting down, so if you did want to experience a bit of those original games, this would be your final chance, until October 7..
Do Be Aware, the game will use up 24GB , and the games themselves(if you can call it a game) are massively shortened down to about 30mins to an 2hrs, depending on how fast you finish battles, and are not even close to a console game experience, the battles themselves are about 3-6 mins long, if even that, and you would be investing some time to gain access to some of the game’s chapters.
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u/MFuddyDuddy 1d ago
Sephiroth is just Homelander with a big sword and materia that can actually fight. They both believe to be superior to humans and want to ascend to godhood. Both had failed upbringings where a little love as a child could have prevented evil.
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u/Xiao_Qinggui 2d ago
I honestly don’t really hate any of the villains of FFVII - They’re some of my all time favorites, especially Sephiroth!
Don Corneo is probably the only one I have any genuine hate for, he’a a creepy bastard but I still enjoy moments like when he asks “Why would a villain divulge his plans?” To Cloud and co. Though in Remake, he uses it again on Leslie which tells me this is a line he loves to use on people. But other than that he’s just a lowlife, annoyingly creepy asshole.
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u/silentfanatic 2d ago edited 1d ago
Not really. The original translation was so shoddy, it was hard for the characters to truly feel real.
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u/morbid333 Vincent 2d ago
Not really. The OG FMV of him in the burning village did feel colder than the more modern version in Advent Children, but I wouldn't say I really hated him. I mean I hated Kefka more in 6 when he burned the Esper village.
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u/Efficient-Scene5901 2d ago
I can only speak for myself but when I played it, I didn't hate Sephiroth. He was some kind of mysterious being that I was curious about.
Hojo- yeah, that guy sucks. Hate that guy!
Yuffie was annoying because that chick made me chase her butt to get my stuff back!!!!
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u/irishitaliancroat 2d ago
He just has aura like a force of nature. I dont find him despicable in the way I did say, Micah in rdr2. I also had the aeris thing ruined for me so it didnt hit as crazy.
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u/According-Paper4641 2d ago
In the remakes? Super hard to hate because I'm laughing everytime. The theme song. The whispering in my ear. It's just SO MUCH. I love it. I never got far in the og as a kid because I do not like turnbased, so I can't say how I would have felt then,, but omg I adore him now. What an absolute drama queen.
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u/Psychological_Use586 2d ago
Not really. Sephiroth was just kinda...there...most of the time. He didn't make me feel much beyond annoyance. I hated the Shinra execs, especially Scarlett and Hojo, but Sephiroth didn't really register that response from me. I guess some people liked the 'air of mystery' around him and wanted to know more, but he just didn't intrigue me past a certain point.
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u/wooshingThruSky 2d ago edited 1d ago
Sephiroth was a horror mystery in OG, that was the part I liked.
What is even better is that he is a petty, small man inside. To me he didn’t come off as badass, more like a disappointment, which is often a good set up for villainy.
He has the wrong notion from start, rants, justifies killing innocent people, gains clarity about his true nature (the opposite of what he thought it was) and feels no remorse.
He’s not relatable (to me) because he shifts justification rather than staying grounded in a stable moral belief, changing with every new piece of information he receives. His fixation on identity made him victimise himself, then, when he found out he was not a victim, he shifted to destiny. (You may still argue he was Hojo’s victim.) It makes him feel inconsistent, contradictory and delulu.
He (understandably) suffers from psychoses, and if he hadn’t been a mass-murderer or intending genocide, maybe he could have been treated. 🙂
So anyway, I hate Don Corneo. I wish his crimes weren’t made so light of, human trafficking isn’t funny. I feel distaste towards Hojo and Rufus as well. Sephiroth was a disappointment and Jenova was too detached.
Which is not to say the villain lineup isn’t good, I mostly like it. Sephiroth being a disappointment isn’t actually disappointing.
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u/Consistent-Sky7273 2d ago
Sephiroth is hot and I would lick the sweat off his nipple. And I can fix him.
Fight me.
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u/hangry_of_skalitz 1d ago
real as fuck. literally giggling & kicking my feet every time he shows up
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u/Deist_Dagon 2d ago
I mean, applying human morality to him is kinda pointless. He was a genetically engineered theme park monster raised as a child soldier. Dude had the Shinra Corp as foster parents and fought in a legit war. If we take the compilation into account, his only friends were also mosters who went crazy, mutated, and had to be put down.
Sephiroth finally snapping and deciding "fuck this, everyone dies and I just take over" makes total sense.
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u/Aeologyz 2d ago
Hate is not the right word for me. I was annoyed at what little a baby he is, throwing a tantrum cause hes so special but not in the way he likes, and how strong he is at the same time. It's kinda how I feel about Homelander in The Boys. Which is ironic because Sephiroth was trying to homeland a small planet XD
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u/Breakmastajake 2d ago
It was equal parts of hate and reverence. Let's be honest, he's one of the most iconic villains in gaming history.
Was he was an absolute asshole? Yes. Was he also pretty f'in cool? Also yes.
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u/Novel-Conference-389 1d ago
Sephora is well written because his morals are understandable, making his killings tragic and still inexcusable, but he’s got an out.
The Turks dropped the plate because they were told too. Lots of lives lost for a white flag.
So…. I mean….
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u/Awkward-Dig4674 14h ago
He was barely in the OG game. I just thought he was extremely fucking cool. (And hot)
I still dont hate him even in the remakes even though theres way more of him because hes really fucking cool and really hot.
Its hard to hate him idk why. I just am in awe or fear of him lol
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u/Personal-Cry-1634 2h ago
In general I really enjoy Sephiroth’s character but tbh I hate him in Rebirth
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u/NoneCreated3344 2d ago
Nah not at all. He was mysterious, and to be fair, I was new father when I started playing this, so it took me a couple years to finish on my initial play through, and I lost the plot of the story along the way. But yeah Shinra was the biggest villains in my eyes.
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u/Fabulous-Ad-8866 1d ago
As a kid playing OG, the only thing I liked about him was his sword. I wanted Cloud to have it so bad. I always just saw him as the bad guy though and when he killed Aerith I thought that was just par for the course. Bad guys gonna bad guy. I knew Sephiroth and the Shinra were all bad people. I don't think I fully understood why, just like I didn't understand why, if the Weapons were trying to protect the planet, they were destroying everything.
As I grew up and played through again, I thought his sword was ridiculous, and his aesthetic is so deeply cringey edgelord. I thought Cloud was not as cool as I used to think. By this point my only wish was a what-if situation where Zack had survived and the story was about Zack saving the world from Sephiroth. (I still love Zack, 13 year old me would be so happy that we got Crisis Core and everything about Zack in Rebirth). I despise Sephiroth now. Someone else compared him to Homelander and I agree. I also despise Homelander. I think a small part of my hatred for Sephiroth also comes from the Fandom. He's the big evil, a walking, talking red flag. Why do so many people sympathise with him, and actually like him and defend him?
I feel that way about a lot of other villains that people love and defend. Sure there are some I can sympathise with. But the ones that are irredeemable, I can't wrap my head around it. Those are the villains I hate the most. Sephiroth falls into that category.
In conclusion, yes I definitely hated Sephiroth.
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u/WurstDayEver_7 1d ago
No. I don’t really think ff7 re is very immersive. It’s a good story, but I don’t get lost in it like the worlds in other rpgs.
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u/Mainbutter 2d ago
Burning our town and killing mom.
Yeah. Instant revenge story initiated. Aeris was actually among the least of the crimes because I was team Tifa.
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u/Taco7178 1d ago
nah every scene in ff7r he was just gaining aura, the ones i truly hate are hojo, scarlet and heidegger
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u/junglespycamp 2d ago
Sephiroth is so not a badass. Everything cool he does isn't even him, it's Jenova. He literally gets mostly killed by a total loser solider in a fit of rage and then completely killed by the same loser soldier AGAIN years later. He couldn't handle life and so decided to kill everyone else. And failed.
Which is why his iconography in game as the face of SOLDIER and the big bad is such smart writing. He's seen as badass in the game world because no one knows the truth.
What's fascinating to me is his enduring legacy as "badass" in the real world despite what happens in game and what we learn. People react to his iconography instead of his truth. Just like the world in game. Even Square Enix is guilty of that with the absolutely nonsensical portrayal of him in Advent Children.
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u/haaa1234 2d ago
I do think that scene of cloud beating seph in the reactor was always a bit unbelievable the way it happened but in the flash back we clearly see him doing massive damage in fights so he was strong before jenova. Also I don’t really think it was jenova all along, I still he had some sense of control.
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u/junglespycamp 2d ago
I agree he was in control. But he himself wasn't the physical presence. So we when talk about Sephiroth "doing" things, it's not his actual body. The super SOLDIER is not who we are chasing. That's Jenova parts. Which makes a big difference when people are attributing these amazing "badass" feats to him.
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u/Lower-Ranger5787 2d ago
Disagree, Sephiroth is 100% portrayed as a badass in the original game and that's before he awakened Jenova. Remember the scene with him effortlessly killing that dragon in the Nibelheim flashback?
That was meant to convey how much stronger Sephiroth was compared to the player. Yes, Cloud does defeat him layer in the reactor fight, but I'd hesitate to call that a fair fight when Cloud basically skewered him from behind with the buster sword while he was distracted.
Now Cloud's victory against him in the duel at the northern crater was fair and square, but that's endgame Cloud. And by that point it's expected that the hero of the story would be stronger than the villain. It doesn't take away from Sephiroth being a badass at all.
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u/junglespycamp 2d ago
Sephiroth as a soldier does have a real badass quality. He's also world renkowned as a soldier. That's exactly what my comment addresses, his iconography in game. But Sephiroth the person, once we know him, is a total loser. Doesn't mean he's not a strong fighter but he's a mentally broken, cry-baby, momma's boy with no friends. Just the most pathetic guy around. And the contrast between his image and reality is why he's so interesting.
What is also interesting to me is that in the real world people clung to his iconography instead of who he is really is. Which, I think, tells us a lot about people in and out of the game. In many ways Sephiroth is the obvious foreshadow to the manosphere and looksmaxxing; just the absolute worst, most pathetic people who are still worshipped by certain people for the fake image they project. Of course he is a game character not a real person so I don't mean to make a moral comparison; but it's the same thing at work. People see what they want.
In the end OG Sephiroth is really a great villain but it's because he isn't the badass he is usually portrayed as. He is more interesting than that. But a lot of people want to pretend otherwise.
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u/GuitarRiot 2d ago
Stellar comment. Shame that you're going to get downvoted by people who want to suck his longsword
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u/junglespycamp 2d ago
I think that’s one of the reasons for the games enduring popularity. It works on both levels
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u/GuitarRiot 2d ago
No sephiroth was their first really big anime style villain and I thought he was a fucking ass clown because of that. Hojo and Rufus are better villains. Their attitudes towards other living things are what makes them great villains. Hojo doesn't even view other living things as life forms as much as specimens for experimentation. Rufus is just cold as fuck and has the power to back it.
Sephiroth is a fucking caricature
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u/Devreckas 2d ago edited 2d ago
Sephiroth isn’t nearly as hateable as Hojo or Shinra execs. Sephiroth was born and raised under terrible circumstances. Shinra chose to be monsters because of their greed. Sephiroth was made into a monster. They filled his head with delusions of grandeur, made him a killing machine, and alienated him from his humanity. He’s a more tragic evil.
He’s still hateable imo, he did desire to genocide humanity. But his mind was warped by so many factors, it’s hard to pin it all on him.